Metal cross-tie.



H. s. GOVER.

METAL CROSS TIE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 26, 1914.

1,096,032. Patented May 12, 1914.

' 2 SHBBTSSHEET 1.

\JOLUMBIA PLAYNOGRAPH cm. WASHINGTON, u. c.

H. S. GOVER.

METAL GROSS TIE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.26, 1914.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH 50., WASHINGTON, n. c.

HARRY S. GOVER, OF BEL AIR, MARYLAND.

METAL GROSS-TIE.

osaoss.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patentedltfay 12, iota.

Application filed January 26, 1914. Serial No. 814,537.

7 '0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY S. (loves, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bel Air, in the county of Harford and State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Metal Gross-Ties; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invent-ion, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. 7

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in railway ties, and has for its principal object the provision of a tie which will prevent the rail from spreading, sinking or creeping.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a tie in which the resilient qualities of the old type of wood tie are retained and combined with the advantages which are present in the use of a metallic tie.

A further object of the invention is to provide a simple and effective means for securing the rail in place on the tie and preventing the same from becoming displaced.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a cushioning device for each of the rails which will absorb the shock and prevent any jarring or loosening of the joints of the rails.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel combination and arrangement of parts which will be fully set forth in the following specification and accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a top plan view of a railroad tie constructed in accordance wit-h this invention, Fig. 2 is a side view of Fig. 1 showing the same partly in section to more clearly illustrate the mechanism thereof, Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2, Fig. 1 is a detail perspective view of the guide for holding the rail securing device in place, and Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of the rail securing elements.

Referring now to the drawings by characters of reference, the numeral 1 designates as an entirety the body portion of the railroad tie comprising a single sheet of material having its lateral edges bent upwardly to form a trough comprising the bottom 2 and sides 3 and 4.

The guides for the rail holding elements, which are best illustrated in Fig. 4, are preferably formed of the two separate elements designated generally by the numerals 5 and 6, each of which comprise the curved portions 7 which are substantially semi-cylindrical in' cross section. Extending rearwardly from each of the free terminals of the semi-cylindrical portion, are provided the plates 8 and -9 which are formed integral with the curved portions and provided with the rivet or bolt-receiving apertures 10.

The rail-holding element, which is designated generally by the numeral 11 comprises the plate 12 having formed near each end the apertures 13 for the reception of the bolts 14 which are arranged to cooperate with the nut 15 to hold the rail-clamping members 6 in position. Formed integral with the plate 12 and centrally located with relation thereto, is preferably provided the cylindrical member 17 which is arranged to slide in the guide ways 5 and 6 when the device is assembled. A suitable coil spring 18 is provided and is adapted to extend into the cylindrical member 17 and engage the plate 12 when the device is in use. The end of the coil spring opposite the end which engages the plate 12 is adapted to abut the bottom 2 of the-tie 1. Thus it will be seen that the spring 18 will exert upward pressure against the rail-holding element and thereby hold the under side of the rail away from the vertical sides 3 and 1 of the tie when the device is in use.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that in use the rail is placed beneath the clamping members 16 and the nuts 15 tightened on the bolts 14. Owing to the fact that the coil spring 18 tends to force the rail-holding element 17 upwardly and away from the tie, it will be apparent that when trafiic passes over the road, any shocks will be taken up by the spring and undue wear on the tie will thus be eliminated. Furthermore, owing to the resilient action of the spring 18, it will be apparent that the joints in the rails will not be badly affected by the traffic since the resiliency of the spring will take up the vibrations and prevent the joints from becoming loosened.

While in the foregoing there has been shown and described the preferred embodiment of this invention, it is to be understood that such changes may be made in the combination and arrangement of parts as will fall within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A metallic railroad tie comprising a trough-shaped body portion, a pair of semicircular guides riveted to-the walls of the trouglrshaped body portion, a rail-holding element comprising a plate and a cylindrical member secured to the plate, said rail-securing element being slidable in' the guides, and a resilient element within the cylindrical member of the rail-securing element to force the same upwardly and normally hold the rails in spaced relation from the top of the tie.

2. A railroad tie comprising a troughshaped body portion, a pair of semi-circular guides, plates formed integral with the guides and extending rearwardly with relation thereto, said plates being adapted to be riveted to the side walls of the troughshaped body portion, a rail-securing plate, means removably secured to the rail-securing plate to hold a railroad rail in position thereon, a cylindrical member formed i11- tegral with the rail-securing plate, said cylindrical member extending into the guides, and a resilient element adapted to be in sorted in the cylindrical member and exert upward pressure against the rail-securing plate to normally hold the same away from the upper surface of the tie.

3. A device of the character described in combination with a trough-shaped body portion, a pair of semi-circular guides,

plates formed integral with each of said guides and extending rearwardly therefrom, of a rail-securing element comprising a plate, a cylindrical member secured to the plate, means carried by the plate to hold the railroad rail in its position and a resilient element adapted to be inserted in the cylindrical member and abut the bottom of the 'trouglrshaped body portion and the rail-securing plate, to yieldably hold the rail-securing plate away from the top of the tie when the device is in use.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HARRY S. GOVEB.

Witnesses:

CHARLES Bonn, ANNA Lnn WILsoN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Eatents, Washington, I). G. 

